The loan became the first syndicated loan for BANK SOYUZ and wasobtained to refinance the credit portfolio. At first the loan wasannounced in the amount of USD 20 million. As a result of resigning theagreement the loan amount was increased by virtually 100%. Thus, thefinal loan amount totaled to USD 39 million, the interest rate was fixedat Libor + 2.45% pa with the life of the loan of 1 year.

Pavel Gurin, Deputy Chairman of the Managing Board, Director ofCorporate Customer Service and Finance Management at ZAO RaiffeisenbankAustria, underlined:"We were very glad to introduce a new borrower tothe syndicated loan market. Despite BANK SOYUZ being debut syndicationwe should mark the general success of the transaction. The interestshown by credit institutions to the Bank is indicative of sustainabledevelopment and strong position of BANK SOYUZ in the banking sector ofthe Russian market".

"We believe that the debut has been a success and we intend to furtherstrengthen the BANK SOYUZ position on the financial market of Russia",said Alexander Livshits, Chairman of the Supervisory Board at BANKSOYUZ, when commenting on the loan arrangement.

"It has been our first independent transaction in the internationalcapital market and I am glad to acknowledge that the result has turnedout twice as good as we had originally expected. It is a remarkablebeginning of our activities in the capital market in 2007", said StuartM. Lawson, CEO of BANK SOYUZ.

In 2005-2006 ZAO Raiffeisenbank Austria acted as Mandated LeadArranger for Russian Borrowers on the markets of retail trade, energysector, metallurgy, real estate, telecommunications and banking servicesfor a total of over USD 6.2 billion.

ZAO Raiffeisenbank Austria is an affiliate of RaiffeisenInternazional Bank Holding AG (Raiffeisen Internazional), withsubsidiary banks and leasing companies in 16 CEE markets. The Bankserves 11.7 million customers at more than 2,775 business outlets, andalso has representative offices in Lithuania and Moldova. RaiffeisenInternational is a fully consolidated subsidiary of RaiffeisenZentralbank Osterreich AG (RZB), which owns 70 per cent of the commonstock. The remaining 30 per cent is free float; the shares are traded onthe Vienna Stock Exchange. RZB is a leading corporate and investmentbank in Austria and the central institution of the Austrian RaiffeisenBanking Group, the country''s largest banking organization.

According to the data provided by independent rating and informationanalysis agencies, BANK SOYUZ is firmly in TOP-30 largest banks inRussia. According to"Dengi” Magazine as of 01.10.06, BANK SOYUZ is
ranked 27th among Russian banks in terms of capital resources and 31st
in terms of assets. According to"Finans” Magazine, ACB SOYUZ (OAO) is
one of the most dynamic banks of Russia: the Bank ranked 18th in the
list of"Top 25 Most Dynamic Companies" published by the business paperin September, 2006, and also ranked 18th in"Top 25 Most ProfitableCompanies In Terms Of Net Profit". The authorized capital of the Banktotals 3.1 billion rubles. The amount of the Bank''s capital resources asof 01.12.2006 totaled 8.2 billion rubles and the assets amounted to 67.5billion rubles.

In June 2006 the rating agency Standard& Poor''s raised the long-termcredit rating of BANK SOYUZ from"ССС+" to"В-". At the same time theBank’s rating by the Russian scale increased from"ruBВ+" to"ruВВВ"with the short-term credit rating"C" being reaffirmed. The ratingforecast is"Stable".

In September 2006 the International Rating Agency Moody’s Investors
Service rated ACB SOYUZ (OAO) as B1 long-term and Not-Prime short-term
in terms of foreign-currency deposits, B1 long-term and Not-Prime
short-term in terms of local-currency deposits, financial stability
rating E+ (FSR), and long-term rating A2.ru by the national scale (NSR).